Because I don’t very often draw bears, when my friend, Dom Conlon, wrote a fairy story about a bear I said I’d do an illustration to go with it. You can read the story here.

This is the picture I drew.

After I had drawn it, I thought it would be better if the wood was a lot darker, so I had a second attempt.

I like this one better and so did Dom, so it’s the one he’s used. It made me think a lot about how illustrations help create the atmosphere in a story and I thought I’d try drawing the same scene in different media.

The next one was drawn with my Rotring pen and then a few washes of ink added.

I’m quite pleased with this, although the trees need a little more depth.

The next version is in acrylic. I like the softer look to the bear and there is about 2 square inches on on the trees that sort of works.. I think if I were going to finish it I would end up reworking the entire thing. It’s headed for the bin.

And finally…. this version is pencil and washes of ink. It’s a watercolour technique really, but you can do it with any paint that you can thin down.  I like the softer look of this.  I’m quite pleased as this is a method I’ve hardly ever used before.  I think I’ll be experimenting with it again soon.

I hope you’ve all read the story. 🙂

I’d be interested to know which version of the illustration people prefer, so please comment below if you want or tell me on Twitter

Thank you.